Raising the Bar: Moonshine Cocktails

The Luna 75 from Stella's Restaurant paired with grilled octopus and roasted beets. Photo by Robert Thomas

Having grown up in Franklin County in Southwest Virginia, I was pretty excited when we decided to feature moonshine cocktails in this edition of Raising the Bar. You see, Franklin County is, without a doubt, the moonshine capital of the world. Oh sure, there are other locales that proudly make that claim, but you ask anyone who knows his corn licker and he’ll tell you. It’s been Franklin County for over a hundred years. Back during Prohibition, it is said that for every 100 people in the county, 99 were involved in the moonshine business. I don’t know if I believe that, but it sounds good and helps make my point.

But we didn’t select moonshine cocktails as our feature just so I could wax nostalgic. In case you hadn’t noticed, moonshine is more popular than ever. You know, the legal kind, where the revenooers get their cut.

One of the major contributing factors in the resurgence of moonshine locally is Belle Isle Craft Spirits. Even though the Richmond-based distillery isn’t on Belle Isle, the name is quite appropriate. The world’s first premium moonshine was born there, in copper kettles produced by Belle Isle Manufacturing.

Even though moonshine is distinctly southeastern USA, homemade hooch is not. Virtually every culture has its own history of homemade spirits. We discovered this as we visited three excellent ethnic restaurants in the city in putting this piece together. The fourth stop on our tour was a very special one. More about that in a moment, but let’s get started on our quest for great moonshine cocktails. We found some in restaurants that you might not expect to be serving moonshine.

The Luna 75 from Stella's Restaurant paired with grilled octopus. Photo by Robert Thomas

Stella’s Restaurant

Our first stop was Stella’s Restaurant, perhaps Richmond’s premier Greek dining spot. Stella is Stella Dikos, who, along with her husband, Steve, opened her first Richmond restaurant on Harrison Street in 1983. Although Stella retired in 2005, her daughter, Katrina Giavos (Johnny’s wife), reopened a new incarnation of the place about four years ago. And, yes, Stella is still very active in the business.

Katrina describes the new location as warm and comfortable. “Many say our lighting is magical,” she says.

As for the menu, “We decided to take things more traditional this time,” Katrina tells me. “We really wanted to focus on the meze, offering small plates to share. In the Greek culture, sharing your food with family and friends is more important than the food itself.” Meze, by the way, is originally a Turkish word meaning snack. The Greek meze is similar to the Spanish tapas.

At Stella’s, you’ll discover a delightful variety of mezes. There’s even a communal table where walk-ins are seated, plates are shared and strangers become fast friends.

Having a moonshine cocktail in a Greek restaurant is not that unusual. The Greeks have their tsipouro, a strong (about 45 percent alcohol), colorless drink produced from the residue of the wine press. Tsipouro is not produced in any other part of the world and is a favorite beverage, served with mezes.

At Stella’s, we enjoyed a drink that Katrina has named the Luna 75. It’s a variation of the French 75 and is made with Belle Isle Premium Moonshine, Grand Marnier and Metaxa, a Greek brandy, along with fresh lemon juice and orange marmalade, and topped with champagne.

This delightful concoction was complemented by two mezes: the roasted beets and the grilled octopus. While I’m generally not a fan of beets, these were the best I’d ever tasted. However, I would strongly recommend you try the grilled octopus. I’ve had calamari, but this was totally different, and quite delicious. It went perfectly with our Luna 75.

The Midnight Moonshine Margarita at Lalo's Cocina Bar and Grill paired with nacho con chorizo. Photo by Robert Thomas

Lalo’s Cocina Bar and Grill

How about a Mexican moonshine cocktail? That’s exactly what we enjoyed at the newly opened Lalo’s Cocina Bar and Grill. Owner Eduardo “Lalo” Macias says he’s too young to have sampled it, but when he was growing up in Guadalajara, he remembers a homebrew known as pulque. This milk-colored drink with a sour buttermilk-like flavor is made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. It has traditionally been a favorite at celebrations and social gatherings.

No pulque for us during our visit. Rather, Lalo served up a tasty concoction he created, which he calls Midnight Moonshine Margarita. Combining Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon cranberry-flavored moonshine with Lunazul tequila (Lunazul is Spanish for “blue moon”), Lalo produced an exceptionally refreshing drink, not too sweet and not too strong, but, as Goldilocks would agree (I feel sure), it tastes just right.

For our appetizer, Lalo prepared his famous nacho con chorizo. He makes his own chorizo (Mexican sausage), which is topped with pico de gallo and jalapeños.

The Benjamin Barker at Portrait House paired with Ethiopian hot chicken strips. Photo by Robert Thomas

Portrait House

Next, we visited with one of our favorite mixologists, Shannon Hood. Shannon is the bar manager at Portrait House restaurant. She truly does raise the bar when it comes to taking a professional, passionate approach to her job. “I read as much as I can…books, and several newsletters, to keep up with the trends in the industry,” she says.

As you no doubt know, now that Yoseph Teklemariam, formerly of the Nile Restaurant, has come on as the head chef at Portrait House, the menu is predominately Ethiopian cuisine.

So is there an Ethiopian moonshine? “Yes there is,” Yoseph says. “Araqe is a popular drink that is primarily served at holiday gatherings.”

Araqe has the aroma of anise, and, while Shannon did not serve a cocktail featuring the traditional Ethiopian beverage, her recipe did include absinthe, to add a hint of that culture to the drink.

She calls her cocktail The Shirak. It’s not just a pretty name, but it’s a derivative of the Amharic word for moon. Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia.

The recipe, Shannon says, is inspired by a drink called the Benjamin Barker, which comes from one of her favorite New York City bartenders, Brian Miller, and one of the city’s top bars, Death & Company.

The drink is made with Belle Isle Premium Moonshine, Campari, fresh lime and a few drops of absinthe. Perhaps everything tastes great with Belle Isle moonshine. This cocktail certainly did. I enjoyed that slight hint of absinthe. They say it makes the heart grow fonder.

Yoseph served us his Ethiopian hot chicken strips as an appetizer. Talk about chicken tenders – I’ve never tasted a bird that tender, and the batter had just the right amount of heat to take this way beyond your typical chicken strip. Yoseph has added several items to the appetizer menu that offers traditional bar food but with a distinctive Ethiopian twist.

Now, that big surprise I’ve been hinting at. Our fourth stop on our moonshine cocktail tour was to a place that hasn’t opened yet. In fact, we didn’t even go to Grandstaff and Stein Booksellers, which is slated for a late March or early April opening at 2113 E. Main St.

Rather, we headed over to the Fish Bowl Bistro at 101 South 15th St., in order to photograph and sample some of the drinks and appetizers that we will soon be enjoying at Grandstaff and Stein. Ross Renfrow, the owner at the Fish Bowl, is also the man behind this new place.

So, what does a bookseller have to do with moonshine? Okay, come closer. Here’s the secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. Okay?

It’s not really a bookstore at all. It’s a speakeasy. That’s right. To the typical passerby, this place will look like a bookstore. But, come on in. Look closely – do you see that bookshelf over there? Well, it’s also a secret entryway into the speakeasy. Now, you have to know the password, but Ross told me, and this is strictly confidential, that if you go to his Facebook page (Facebook.com/BooksellersRVA), you can probably figure that out. Once you get through the bookshelf, Ross says, “You’ll go 100 years back in time.”

He prepared some excellent period drinks for us to sample and photograph but says he’s waiting to reveal his specialty drinks. In fact, he says, “Our cocktail creations haven’t come to life yet.”

Both the food and the drink are from the Prohibition and pre-Prohibition eras. Throw in the player piano providing the sounds of jazz and ragtime music, and the whole thing is going to be unbelievably fun. “It’s all designed,” Ross says, “to make you feel that you’re doing something wrong.”

One of the drinks we sampled was a variation of the French 75, featuring Belle Isle Premium Moonshine along with gin, simple syrup, lemon juice and champagne. We also sampled several other cocktails as well as great appetizers prepared by Will Renfrow, Ross’s brother. The oysters were fantastic, as was the bruschetta, but I get the feeling that both Ross and Will are holding a few tricks up their sleeves for the grand opening. But really, isn’t the keeping of secrets what moonshine and speakeasies are all about? I just hope I haven’t revealed too much already.